Best Sound Track Ever Vote for One

Can’t believe I left out one of my very favorite artists, film-score-or-otherwise:

Henry Mancini.  
It ain’t just “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” (though a rightfully mentioned score in this thread already)

“Experiment in Terror,” “Hatari!,” (featuring not only the absolutely brilliant main theme but also the immortal “Baby Elephant Walk”) “Days of Wine and Roses,” “Charade,” “The Pink Panther,” “A Shot in the Dark,” “Dear Heart,” “Moment to Moment,” “Two for the Road,” and “Wait Until Dark.” 

Martin Scorsese, David Lynch, Spike Lee, Quentin Tarantino, Paul Thomas Anderson and Wes Anderson compile the best pop-compilation soundtracks.

For “The Imperial March” alone, I’m going to have to say “The Empire Strikes Back” by John Williams for best original score.

Seeing the joy on Mr. Williams’ face while conducting the Vienna Philharmonic on this piece on YouTube is a treat. 

It’s hard to compete with Bernard Herrmann and Ennio Morricone, composer-wise.

I’ll toss some love Danny Elfman and John Barry’s way, also. 

“Les Stances a Sophie” by the Art Ensemble of Chicago.

“Theme De YoYo” from this, featuring Fontella Bass on vocals - amazing.

Here’s an unheralded gem: 1970’s “Performance.”

Jack Nitzsche, Randy Newman, Merry Clayton, Ry Cooder, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Russ Titelman, Lowell George, Gene Parsons, Bobby West and Milt Holland.

In various incarnations, this “band” created a really cool, unique soundtrack for the film. It’s produced by Jack Nitzsche but he is also probably the primary creative force, with Randy Newman, Merry Clayton, and Ry Cooder in tow.  Randy Newman plays on several tracks, sings a couple, and is even credited as the band’s “conductor.” You throw in Buffy Sainte-Marie getting in there, and then all these excellent players from The Byrds, Little Feat, and Captain Beefheart’s Magic Band, Bernard Krause using a Moog synthesizer prototype (it being 1970 they weren’t on the market yet) and some really interesting, unique music, this is an unheralded gem.

It even has The Last Poets with their 1970 classic, “Wake Up, N*****s”

@bdp24 I’ve been meaning to watch “Paris, Texas.”

I love Harry Dean Stanton.  I just recently watched the hilarious David Lynch short, The Cowboy and the Frenchman starring the great Mr. Stanton on YouTube.  Jeez, what a great and a hilarious short.  My girlfriend and I were howling.

I play the theme from Twin Peaks, either the main theme or Laura Palmer’s love theme (or both) at this regular piano gig I picked up recently. Angelo is just brilliant in anything I’ve heard of his. David is as good as anyone in filmmaking in the use of music in film; not only with the original music in his films but in the use of popular music.

I had to pick up the Mulholland Drive soundtrack on CD online because it’s not available on iTunes and I couldn’t live without what may be my favorite vocal of all time; the Spanish, a cappella version of “Crying” by Orbison by Rebekah Del Rio.  The scene with that performance in the film is a stunner cinematically, as well.

I really enjoyed both Neil’s soundtrack and the Jarmusch film, Dead Man.  I know my girlfriend is a fan, we should give that a go soon also.

Too many damn movies to see.

@bdp24 Criterion looks great.  Streaming films can be an exercise in frustration for those who want good visuals.  I’ve sat there and spent 10+ dollars to watch one movie, bailing on multiple rentals in quick succession only to find the subsequent platforms look as bad as the previous.  Then the best looking one keeps freezing/buffering so I have to go back and settle for a bad looking stream…

No Blue Ray here yet, either, one of those things I keep saying I’m going to get.

I’ve been meaning to show my girlfriend Crumb for a while.  Thanks for the reminder!  
ANOTHER movie we gotta watch…

@bdp24 Indeed. I’ve shown/enjoyed-the-experience-of-rewatching tons of movies (certainly more plausible during a global pandemic) with my girlfriend the last couple years. It’s great. Talking about them afterwards, the whole bit.

Taking her for a spin on my fancy turntable with all my fancy gear and fancy records is pretty great, too.  

I still own Crumb on VHS.  I won’t show Katie Crumb that way unless I have to.  Will stream it or DVD it.  That came out when I was in junior high.  I hadn’t really seen many documentaries yet at that age.  That one set a high bar!  I’ve seen it many times.  As good a documentary as I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen a lot over the past 25-odd years.

Terry Zwigoff’s other masterpiece, Ghost World, was one that didn’t garner an enthusiastic reaction from my partner, surprisingly, which is a rare occurrence.  Can’t win ‘em all, I guess.  Maybe it was just her mood at the time.

I think of Ghost World quite a bit.  I definitely think of it when I peruse Audiogon forums, seeing how ubiquitous the appreciation of bands not dissimilar to the one briefly portrayed in the film (Blues Hammer🤣🤣) is around these parts.